The supermarket has now removed the bones from the shelves of their stores while they investigate the injuries.

Burtie was bought the bone from the Tesco branch in New Church Road, Hove, as a present by a friend of owner James Lancaster, of Worthing.

Dog bone advice

The friend received a letter from Tesco’s customer services team assuring him that the supermarket “would never knowingly sell a product that could cause such harm” and that the product was being withdrawn.

Mr Lancaster and partner Anna Carey were heartbroken when Burtie died on Christmas Day.

Vet Marc Abraham, of Grove Lodge Vets in Worthing, urged dog owners not to feed their dogs bones because of the risk of injury.

David Morris, from Upper Beeding, said his miniature schnauzer Tia also nearly died after eating one of the treats bought at the Shoreham branch of the supermarket and called for Tesco to remove them from sale.

Investigation

A spokeswoman for Tesco said: “We were very sorry to hear about the incidents involving this product and we are in touch with the customers affected.

"We’ve taken this item off our shelves while an urgent review is carried out with our supplier.”

A spokeswoman for Bob Martin said: “We take product quality and suitability very seriously and are continuing to investigate the incident with Burtie’s owners and Tesco.”

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